1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power supplies and, more particularly, to power supplies having a remotely switchable, bipolar high voltage output.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Drift tube chemical agent point detection systems are utilized for detecting harmful chemical agents in the atmosphere. It is desirable to design such systems to be light and portable so that an operator can carry around a self-contained portable unit in the field without undue fatigue.
At the present time, most harmful chemical agents form positive ions when subjected to a Americium 241 radiation source except for lewisite which forms negative ions. In order to detect both positive and negative ions the operator of a typical detection system would have to manually switch polarities on the power supply of the detector from time to time. Thus, the operator must determine which types of ions to search for, and select the appropriate polarity.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings in a device requiring manual operation of polarity selection by providing automatic, remote control capability for switching polarities. The power supply of the invention enables chemical agent point detectors to automatically detect both positive and negative ion agent formation. Since the power supply of the invention can switch polarity under remote control, such a chemical agent point detector can be programmed to monitor for both types of ions on an alternating time slot basis. The present invention, therefore, relieves the operator of the responsibility of determining which type of ions to search for.